


When Gavin Met Gavin

by bittcrtragcdy



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, DETECTIVE TINA CHEN, Detroit Evolution, Domestic, F/F, Fluff, Gavin Reed Needs a Hug, M/M, Octopunk Media, TINA GETS A PROMOTION, detective boyfriends, gavin's cat deserves her own show, new zen garden, nines doesnt rebuild zen!gavin, post-DE, reed900
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24466297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittcrtragcdy/pseuds/bittcrtragcdy
Summary: It's been a month since the end of a string of android serial murders and Detective Gavin Reed and his partner Nines are slowly moving forward with their lives. Nines' begins to spend the night at Gavin's at least twice a week - although he wishes it was more.During these times Gavin finds himself in his own personal "Zen Garden" where he meets a version of himself - Zen!Gavin - that was erased from Nines' Zen Garden because of Ada's corruption. During these visits, Gavin starts to question whether or not he is truly enough for Nines, or whether Nines just wants him to be perfect, like the Gavin inside his head.
Relationships: Tina Chen (Detroit: Become Human)/Valerie Morales-Chen, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 29
Kudos: 126





	1. November 23rd, 2039

**Author's Note:**

  * For [octopunk discord](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=octopunk+discord).



> heya guys - what did i tell ya? can't write a one-shot to save my life whoops
> 
> so this ONE chapter took me like 3 days to write so this fic may be updated like once a week (if i'm productive and don't just give up after this chapter - SOMEONE PLS TELL ME TO WRITE MORE)
> 
> anyways its almost 5am - the usual - i have glanced through it but its not been beta'd so excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes (and if it just isn't good then lets blame that on the fact i've been writing it from 2-5am every night for the last couple days)
> 
> main props go to aum (@aum24_pastel) for the idea and jay (@janjan_nine) for the plot line - i love them both  
> happy happy timezones!
> 
> AND CHECK OUT OCTOPUNK MEDIA'S FILM "DETROIT: EVOLUTION", FREE ON YOUTUBE FOR BACKSTORY AND SHIT BUT ALSO BC ITS JUST REALLY GOOD AND I LOVE IT OKAY BYE

DETECTIVE GAVIN REED’S APARTMENT  
DOWNTOWN DETROIT  
NOVEMBER 23RD, 2039  
2:30 AM

“Nines, please. For the love of God, go to sleep.” Gavin muttered into his pillow, hair falling out of place covering his eyes. Beside him sat an RK900, cleverly nicknamed “Nines” by his partner, his LED flickering blue lighting up the dark room. Eyes open, he glanced down at Gavin who was turned away from him, shuffling to get comfortable. “You know I can’t sleep, Gavin.” A smirk appeared on the android’s lips as his partner turned to face him, hazel eyes sparkling through dark curls. “Stasis, phck, whatever. Just lay down and turn the blinky thing off.” Leaning up lazily Gavin tapped on Nines’ LED, quickly turning it yellow, before flopping back down onto the bed and snuggling his face into Nines’ side. “You know it doesn’t turn off right? Even in stasis.” Gavin huffed into the pillow, slowly turning his face back up toward Nines. “Shit okay, fine, is there a brightness setting? It’s quite damn distracting when you’re trying to actually get some sleep for once. I know you don’t need it but in case you forgot, I kinda do.” Gavin’s eyes met Nines’, the bags under them had decreased in size since Nines had begun staying the night - although they were still visible. “I didn’t think you needed sleep, Detective. I thought your diet of caffeine and cigarettes powered you enough to not require it?” A smirk once again forming on Nines’ lips as Gavin hit him with the pillow. “Ha, ha, very funny Tin Can.” Nines couldn’t help but notice a smile forming on Gavin’s own face, small as it may be.

“I thought it was funny.” Gavin’s smirk dropped into a scowl. His cat, Asshole, had jumped onto the bed and began to snuggle her way in between the couple - head resting on Nines’ leg. “Seems someone else did too.” Nines’ laughed quietly as the cat began to meow under his touch. Gavin huffed beside him, sitting up straight as Asshole stretched out, putting more distance between the partners. “She’s truly living up to her name tonight.” Arms crossed and back hunched Gavin looked like a child who hadn’t gotten their way - and Nines certainly found it amusing. “No, no. It’s much simpler than that. See the thing is, she actually likes m-” Nines is cut off mid-sentence once again by a pillow to the face. The sudden change in Nines’ body language causes Asshole to hiss and jump out from between them, running out the slightly ajar door of Gavin’s bedroom. “Now who’s the asshole?” Gavin pointed to the cat as she ran out of the room, swinging back to hit Nines in the face once again but stopped by Nines grabbing the pillow and throwing it across the room. “Still you.” A smile formed on both of their faces as they burst out laughing.

“Get some sleep, Gavin. Would it help if I lay down and dimmed my LED with the pillow?” Gavin shifted until he was lying down again, now only one pillow beneath his head. “Yeah, thanks.” With one final huff from Gavin, Nines lay down on his side, face to face with his partner. It was not the first time he had been this close to Gavin’s face - and of course, it didn’t hurt to use his zoom vision when Gavin was far. Yet, he still sat admiring every wrinkle and scar and freckle on the human. “What are you staring at?” Nines’ eyes snapped up to meet Gavin’s, admiring them just like he had been every other part of Gavin’s face. They seemed to glisten in the darkness, even through the mess of curls that lay across his forehead. Nines scanned them, determining they were a mixture of yellow and brown - creating a beautiful hazel color that Nines could analyze for hours on end. “Charming.” A furrow appeared in Gavin’s brow as one of them shot up into his bed of hair - disappearing from sight. “What?” Nines lifted a hand to Gavin’s cheek, cradling his face as he ran his thumb across the thinned out end of his nose scar. He repeated, “Charming”, as Gavin came to his senses. “You’re such a phcking sap, man.” A clear blush present on the detective’s cheeks as Nines continued to brush his thumb across Gavin’s face - his artificial skin retracting to reveal his natural android chassis as he bent his head down until their foreheads touched. “Goodnight Gavin.” Gavin smiled, his eyelids growing heavy as he lifted his hand to rest against Nines’. “Goodnight Nines.”

NINES’ ZEN GARDEN  
GAVIN’S MIND  
NOVEMBER 23RD, 2039  
3:30 AM

Gavin’s eyes shot open wide, looking around he appeared to be in a garden of sorts. He was sitting on a bench wearing the clothes he had gone to bed in - a sleeveless hoodie and some boxer shorts. Unsure how he had somehow managed to get out of Nines’ grip, shove on some shoes and walk to a park he had never been to, Gavin stood up. Everything seemed a little too perfect. There were exactly 2 rows of lilies along either side of the pathway - all with 10 buds on each. Another strange thing was the sun. It was sunny in this perfect garden, yet when Gavin had last checked his phone it had been 2 am - the middle of the night. How was it suddenly light here? It made no sense. Things were about to make a whole lot less sense when he finally spotted another person in the garden. They were on the other side of a red bridge, just on the edge of Gavin’s vision - so he headed in that direction, He hoped the person would maybe be able to tell him where he was so he could get back home, back to Nines. Of course, Nines would be fine - he always was. But ever since the Ada incident, he had watched over Nines more - if that was even possible. Deep in his thoughts on what Nines would do if he exited stasis and Gavin wasn’t there - or if he had already woken up to find Gavin not beside him in bed - Gavin quickly checked his pockets. No phone. No wallet. No keys. He never left the house without his phone, he clung to the old technology - craved it even. How had he even got here? He couldn’t have driven - no keys and no wallet meant a taxi was out of the question. It was then that Gavin started to panic, just as he reached the red bridge, WHERE THE PHCK WAS HE?

The other person was coming more and more into view as Gavin picked up the pace of his walking and almost tripped over the step off the bridge. It was a man, who was in his late 20s early 30s, from what Gavin could tell. The man had his back turned to him, a long-sleeved white shirt covering the top half of his body whilst jeans occupied the bottom. He had dark brown curly hair that had been smoothed out and he was currently walking away from Gavin with his hands in his pockets. “Hey! Hey, wait up, please. I need to talk to you.” The man continued to walk away from him as if he hadn’t even heard Gavin shouting. “Hey! I’m talking to you, you can’t just-” It was at this moment that Gavin had caught up to the man, grabbing his shoulder and turning him round to face him. The man was… him? He looked into this man’s eyes and saw his own. Everything about his face was identical - apart from the missing nose scar and lack of bags under his eyes. Gavin wondered how he hadn’t seen it before - even from behind he should’ve recognized himself.

“Ah, I see you finally made it. Hurry up, I haven’t got all phcking day.” The Other Gavin turned away and headed towards a small outdoor gazebo, it was empty inside. Gavin followed the man, still not entirely sure what was going on. He tried to pinch himself - he must be dreaming. It would explain the lack of items on him, the sunny sky, and also how someone who looked almost completely identical to him was talking to him. Despite the gazebo being empty, an interface screen appeared in the center within seconds - only one profile visible. His. It read: “Detective Gavin David Reed, aged 32. Criminal Record: Red Ice Smuggling, Assaulting a uniformed officer.” The profile seemed to have everything known about Gavin that was accessible on the DPD server, although it seemed his previous crimes had been reinstated. “We don’t have much time before you wake up Gavin, but I needed to talk to you.” Gavin’s eyes widened as the other him started to speak - that was his voice coming out of the man, in the exact way he would’ve said it. “Wait so I am asleep? Where the hell am I, and please don’t give some cryptic half-assed answer I don’t have the phcking time for it.” The Other Gavin nodded, the profile disappearing from between the two so that they could get a better look at one another - not that they needed it.

“Phck, okay. Short answer? Yes - you are asleep back in your apartment.” The voice was his yet he didn’t recognize it. It reminded him of a time where Nines had mimicked his voice perfectly, back at New Jericho - only a month ago. “This,” The man gestured around, implying the entire garden itself and not just the gazebo they were inside of, “is called the Zen Garden. It’s this thing installed into the programming of all prototype androids. Its purpose is to allow them to report back to CyberLife - at least that’s what it used to be.” The Other Gavin smiled before leaving the gazebo, Gavin following suit as they both walked along another path of perfect flowerbeds. “It’s where androids go whilst in stasis, most deviants use it now for more personal reasons.” Gavin stopped there, the Other Gavin stopping a mere second after him. “What do you mean, personal reasons? And also: if this is an android brain or whatever, how the phck am I here?” The Other Gavin still had his hands in his pockets but he removed them for his next statement, rubbing his hands together in a nervous habit Gavin knew he himself possessed. “Can’t tell you that right now. All you need to know is that you are inside Nines’ Zen Garden. I’m not sure how, hell I didn’t even think it was possible for a human to enter an android mind. Shit, most of the place is still unstable - had to be rebuilt after Ada corrupted it.”

“Wait, so this is where Nines’ was when he was in that coma?” They had started to walk again, following the path along the bridge and back the way Gavin had come. “Pretty much. Nines was trapped here whilst his body was at CyberLife. Nines only made it back because he erased the entire phcking garden. Including everything and everyone in it.” They had crossed the bridge now, getting closer to the bench in which Gavin had “woke up” on. “Everyone? What do you mean by that, who was here?” They reached the bench, both Gavin’s sitting down beside each other. If this had been real-life people would’ve assumed they were twins - one perfect, the other not so much. “Well - he had to erase Ada, of course. A copy of her software prevented him from leaving. In addition to deleting this place, he had to delete... me.” Gavin flipped his head around at that statement - his brain going foggy at the sudden influx of information the other Gavin was giving him. “You? He… he had a version of me in his head?” Gavin started twiddling with his thumbs, tracing the scars that were apparent on his hands - but not his Zen Garden counterpart.

“Phck, yes, Gavin. Nines had a version of you, me, installed in here around July. I was erased last month - during the Ada attack. I’m not even sure how I am here, Nines never rebuilt me.” Gavin stopped messing with his hands for a moment to look the other Gavin over. Never rebuilt him? In the month since Ada’s attack, he had never once rebuilt Gavin inside his head? “If he didn’t rebuild you then how are you here?” The Other Gavin shrugged his shoulders, shoving his hands back in his pockets. “Phcked if I know. It seems that I only exist in your brain, Gavin. Even though this does seem to be Nines’ new Zen Garden. I told him to build a phcking theme park…” Gavin was still confused, but a small smile had cracked across his face. “Sounds like something I would say…” Gavin’s eyes had started to droop, probably suggesting he was about to “fall asleep” - or “wake up” in this context. “Wait, shit - before you go, there's something else you should know.” Gavin forced his eyelids open to look at his perfect self. Perfect, in every way. No bags, no scars, no screw-ups. Why would Nines have wanted the real Gavin when he had a perfect version of him living in his head? He remembered their conversation outside of Burn’s Alley - “you don’t want to help me, you want to fix me” - and fix him he had. He had erased almost every single scar on his body (from what he could see) and gotten rid of the god awful “hey guess who didn’t sleep again last night” bags from under his eyes. “What now? You gonna tell me that you and Nines were in a phcking relationship?” Gavin’s voice was rising, getting louder by the minute. When the other Gavin refused to say anything - he had his answer. “Of course you were, look at you. Picture phcking perfect. It’s a wonder he ever left here in the first place; perfect world, perfect boyfriend, perfect life. Who would choose greasy old screw-up, Gavin Reed, over this?” He was standing now, pacing back and forth with his arms crossed on his chest - the veins were popping out in both his arms and his neck from stress. “Look, Gavin - you don’t understa-” Gavin grabbed the other him by the shirt tugging him up. “DON’T PHCKING TELL ME WHAT I DO AND DO NOT UNDERSTAND! HE ONLY GOT WITH ME AFTER HE DELETED YOU AND YOU KNOW THAT’S THE PHCKING TRUTH!” He let go of the shirt, causing the other Gavin to fall back onto the bench. He was silent - there were no words that could fix this.

“Gavin-”

His eyes started to droop, he felt as though he had no control over his body as it dropped to the ground. He could feel the gravel beneath his knees but he couldn’t move.

“Hey, sleepyhead-”

He could hear Nines’ voice calling out to him from above, it echoed slightly in the open air before fading. He was beginning to wake up.

“Hey, Gavin!

We’re gonna be late for work if you don’t get your ass out of bed.”

He opened his eyes, for real this time. He was laying in his bed - an empty space beside him that Nines had occupied the night before. His alarm had gone off a few minutes early, but Nines had already shut it off. He shut his eyes again, imagining the night's events in his head. He had somehow been in Nines’ mind? But also not his mind, because the Perfect Gavin didn’t exist there - not anymore. Now the Perfect Gavin was in his head - Gavin’s own mind. Gavin knew he wasn’t perfect - heck anyone could tell you that. But to have a literal perfect version of yourself in your head, showing you every little thing that is wrong with you? Soul crushing. What bothered him most was that Nines hadn’t told him. He might’ve been more understanding if Nines had just come to him and said “Hey! I had a version of you in my head that was practically perfect in every single way but since I had to delete him - I guess you’ll do!” - then again, maybe not. All Gavin could think about was why?

Why would he want him when Nines already had a perfect version - no baggage.

Why Nines hadn’t told him about it in the first place.

But most importantly he asked himself: Am I, Gavin David Reed; screw-up, previous anti-android supporter, baggage on baggage on baggage; good enough for Nines; the most advanced android ever designed?


	2. November 30th, 2039

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been one week since Nines spent the night at Gavin's and ever since discovering his Zen Garden equivalent, Gavin has stopped sleeping. Chris and Tina both notice something is up, with only Chris being able to get a small explanation out of the man.
> 
> The time has come for Nines to spend another night at Gavin's apartment and Gavin is not ready to face his perfect self once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heya dudes! guess what, i FINALLY finished this chapter lol
> 
> this one is much longer than the first chapter and sadly no actual zenvin appears but we get some good ol' jacket cops convo so i hope that makes up for it
> 
> also also I GAVE TINA A PROMOTION BC FUCK YEAH SHE DESERVES IT
> 
> anyways yes, i finished this at 5am this morning and then proofread it just now so hopefully it actually makes sense whoops

DETROIT POLICE DEPARTMENT  
DOWNTOWN DETROIT  
NOVEMBER 30TH, 2039  
3:04 PM

“-still can’t believe we caught the guy… Gavin? Are you listening?”

Gavin’s eyes blurred back into focus. In the chair beside him was Detective Chris Miller, one of his closest friends. He had clearly been talking about something and Gavin had completely dozed off, how embarrassing. “Yeah, yeah. Red ice, android dealer, mission successful yada yada.” He waved his hand at Chris, who did not believe Gavin’s awful lie for one second. “Not even close dude but you know what, that’s not important. What has been going on with you lately, man?” Gavin’s eyes made contact with Chris’ at that moment. Chris then looked down at the cup of coffee in Gavin’s hand, the hot liquid had started spilling over the edges as Gavin’s hand began to shake. As the liquid met his skin he let out a loud “PHCK”, so loud he expected Nines’ would be able to hear him from his desk - 2 floors up. “Okay, something is definitely wrong - you never drop your coffee.” Gavin had risen to grab some napkins from beside the coffee machine to clean up both the mess on his hand and jeans, as well as the mess he’d made on the table. “Chris, I’m fine - it’s nothing.” He wiped his hands against his jeans to get the extra mess off as he shoved the napkins in the bin nearby, his back facing Chris. “No, it’s not. Dude I’ve known you since I joined the DPD way back in like 2030, you can’t lie to me” A smirk crossed Chris’ face, his eyes never leaving Gavin’s back. “Is it the nightmares again?” Gavin froze at that, his body stiffening. Of course, he remembers telling Chris about them years ago - he just doesn’t remember how. It was back when Gavin didn’t give a crap about the world and treated everyone he knew like shit. “Not exactly…?” Gavin had returned to his seat now, hands resting inside his jacket pockets - his coffee sat on the table, turning cold, but he did not reach for it once. “What do you mean?” Gavin sighed, his eyes not meeting Chris’ as he spoke.

It had been a week since Nines had spent the night at Gavin’s. A week since he had met his perfect self in his own personal Zen Garden, Things with Nines had been fine, although he knew Nines wasn’t stupid: he would suspect something was up eventually, just as Chris did. “It’s not nightmares anymore, but I still haven’t been sleeping.” A snort erupted out of Chris, causing Gavin to look up for the first time. “Yeah, clearly. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the increase of your caffeine consumption.” Gavin punched his shoulder, causing Chris to yelp quietly. “Please stop, you’re starting to sound like Nines.” A smirk appeared on Chris’ face as Gavin dropped his eyes once more. “It’s about Nines, isn’t it? What’s the matter, man? I thought you guys were doing well?” Chris gently placed a hand on Gavin’s shoulder, aware of the man’s dislike of human touch. Gavin stiffened slightly but he had gotten used to a little bit of contact from his co-workers since being with Nines. Their eyes met and Chris removed his hand, not wanting to overstep any boundaries. “They were, they are. It’s not really to do with Nines. Not entirely anyway.” Chris shifted uncomfortably in his chair, arms crossing over his chest. “In what way?” Gavin leaned over to the table and grabbed his, now cold, coffee and took a huge gulp of it. “Chris - do you know what a Zen Garden is?”

“A what now?” Gavin sighed, placing his coffee mug back on the table before running his hands through his tough curls. “A Zen Garden. It’s apparently this thing that CyberLife built into all the RK prototypes that’s like a garden in their mind, brain, whatever so they can report back to CyberLife. Nines has one, probably Connor too.” Chris tilted his head slightly, eyes scanning Gavin up and down. “Okay… I’m assuming you're going somewhere with this?” Gavin’s hand had found its way back into his pocket and he had begun fiddling with his car keys, more specifically his keyring: a shark with a rainbow flag draped across it that Nines had got him a couple of weeks previous. “Well, would you think I was crazy if I told you I… kinda have one?” Chris was glad that he had already finished his coffee otherwise he was sure he would’ve spat it out all over the table and himself. “I’m sorry - WHAT?” Gavin opened his mouth to elaborate, but in his attempts to hush Chris he was interrupted. “Let me get this straight - you have a Zen Garden, a piece of programming in androids, in your human brain? And what you can only access it when you sleep so you’ve been staying awake to avoid the place like the plague?”

Gavin’s mouth opened and closed multiple times as he tried to find the right words to say. “Yes? Well no, okay, God I knew you would think I’m crazy. The issue is that even when I do sleep I don’t end up there - it only happens when Nines spends the night I think and he hasn’t this week.” Chris had stood up at this point, going to the fridge and pulling out a beer. Gavin’s eyes caught up with him as he heard the pop of the cap. “Dude seriously? Am I really that bad you have to resort to day drinking?” Gavin rubbed his hands over his face - his stubble was overgrown and sharp against his palms, God he really needed to shave. “Listen, Gav - if I gotta hear you talk about some fictional android brain thing you got going on - I deserve this.” He gestured to the beer in his hand as he retook his seat beside Gavin. Silence grew between them as Chris took a couple of swigs of the drink. “Okay - proceed.” He lounged back into his chair, the wheels spinning slightly beneath him. Gavin had taken his keys out of his pocket at this point, shifting them between his hands - the slight sound of metal touching metal as background music to the conversation. “Where the phck do I start? Okay, maybe with… So last week Nines spent the night, as he usually does. We were up quite late, like middle of the night late, and I kept telling him to go to sleep.”

“He can’t do that.” Chris interrupted Gavin, taking another swig of his beer before wiping the excess liquid from his lips. “How do you know that? Not important, anyway, he went into stasis or something and I went to sleep - don’t start on me.” Gavin looked up, his eyes finding Chris’ - who’s mouth was slightly ajar, with a clear intent of making fun of Gavin for actually sleeping for once. He quickly shut it, focussing his eyes on the keys in Gavin’s hands instead as he allowed the other man to continue speaking. “Next thing I know I’m waking up in some garden-like place, sun shining brightly. The place was perfect Chris, like too perfect. I’ll tell ya something - it was pretty amazing to look at.” Gavin stopped briefly to smile a little. Despite the insecurities the garden had given, one thing was for sure - Nines knew how to build a phcking awesome garden. “So um, I had a look around and there was… someone else there.” Gavin heard a slight choking sound beside him and looked over to see Chris - tears coming out of his eyes slightly as he desperately tried to prevent himself from coughing whilst he held the cold alcoholic liquid in his mouth. “I’m sorry - someone else was in your dream garden thing? Didn’t realize you were having dreams about me, Gav.” That sentence got Chris an elbow to the side, making him choke even more. “Yeah, yeah you’re a laugh riot. No, dickhead - it wasn’t you, or Tina or anyone.”

“Okay, you made your point - who was it then?” Gavin hesitated - if he told Chris he had seen a perfect version of himself in his own head, well then he knew he would think he was crazy. “It was, um, it was-” The door behind them burst open loudly and both detectives whipped their heads round to see the newly promoted Detective Tina Chen gasping for breath, her hands placed on her knees as she stared at the floor. “Geez, T, what’s up?” She finally caught her breath by which point Nines had also reached the door, pushing it open significantly gentler than Tina had. Gavin’s eyes met his boyfriend’s as a pink flush fled up to his cheeks. Within seconds Gavin had shoved his keys back into his pocket, the motion not going unnoticed by the android. “They found that van you were looking for. GUF 438, right? Well, they found more than just an abandoned van.” Gavin blinked multiple times, his eyes finally leaving his partners. Clearing his throat he turned the chair back round to grab his phone and wallet off the table before standing up, shoving them in his pockets. “Well, what are we waiting for? Nines and I will head to the scene, just tell them to send the address over.” Nines recognized a slight change in the pitch of Gavin’s voice but decided against mentioning it in front of their coworkers. “Let’s go, Detective.” Gavin followed Nines out the door as Tina replaced him in the chair beside Chris, whipping her phone out and messaging Connor to send Nines the address where the van had been found. “What’s up with him?” Tina finished the message and spun the chair to meet the table, only now catching a glimpse of Chris’ beer. “Screw that actually what’s up with you? Last time you day drank was the day after that night in Capitol Park.”

Chris visibly shuddered, flashes of what had happened in Capitol Park flooded his memories. Bang. An android down. Bang Bang. Two more androids down. Before long he and his then partner had been ambushed by the remaining androids, his own gun ripped from his hands as he was forced to his knees. “Yeah - I remember.” Tina noticed Chris’ eyes glaze over at her mention of Capitol Park, his eyelids blinking so rapidly and his body going stiff that if Tina didn’t know any better she would’ve assumed he was an android. “So… what happened?” Tina knew Chris was a very open person, probably too open if she was being honest. Chris looked down at the beer on the table, the cold liquid sloshing about inside. He pushed back his chair as he grabbed the bottle and made his way to the sink, pouring the liquid down it. “Gavin. He’s not been sleeping again.” Tina sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back into the chair. “Yeah, I’ve noticed. Is he okay?” Chris smirked at that, shoving the now empty bottle into the garbage can on the floor. “Is he ever? Things have been weird lately for him I think, he’ll tell you when he’s ready - I had to basically drag it out of him and even then he didn’t tell me everything.” Tina sighed again, stray pieces of her hair escaping from the tightly fastening low ponytail at the back of her head. “He’s hiding stuff again? I thought things were better, ya know, because of Nines.” Chris retook his seat beside her, sweat dripping from his brow. “He said they were, but I don’t know Tina - something’s up with him.”

150 GRAND RIVER AVE  
DOWNTOWN DETROIT  
NOVEMBER 30TH, 2039  
4:50 PM

“Okay, I think we’re done here. Nines, report back to Fowler - tell him we got some prints off the van.” Gavin stood up from where he had been perched over an android body, Nines had identified her as an SW400 - registered as Harriet. The case had come out of the blue - a missing android and the van that belonged to her. The pair were surprised when Fowler put the duo on the case - they were homicide detectives after all. But after the whole Ada scenario Fowler decided it be best they stick to smaller crimes for the time being - in case she ever reappeared, although they both knew she wouldn’t be that dumb. They hadn’t heard from Ada since that night at the docks, and if they were being honest, they were glad. They had managed to give her a new life - a deviant life, one where she wouldn’t be locked up in a jail cell for merely executing her program. Gavin knew Nines would have told him if Ada had used his software at all to try and contact him, but then again, after the events of the previous week and Gavin’s dream - he wasn’t sure what he could trust Nines to tell him anymore.

“Certainly, Detective.” Nines’ eyes blinked rapidly, the LED on his right temple turning yellow as he sent the report - as well as the scanned fingerprints - back to the DPD. “Captain Fowler should’ve received the report by now, I think we can head home for the day.” Both Gavin and Nines turned back to Gavin’s car, leaving the forensics team behind them to finish doing their job. It wasn’t until Gavin had begun to enter the car that he realized Nines’ words. “Wait, home? I thought you weren’t staying over for another couple of days?” Nines quickly scanned his partner - flushed cheeks, increased heart rate, sweaty palms. “It’s been a week since I stayed, Gavin - I thought that was our deal? What, don’t you want me staying anymore?” Nines’ LED went a solid yellow, the beginnings of red peeking through. “What? No, of course, I want you to stay, it's just… I haven’t tidied the apartment - I know how anal you can be about me keeping the place clean and I wasn’t expecting you for another couple of days so-” Gavin had started to panic, to come up with any excuse he could think of as to not want Nines to stay - man he sucked at improvising. He was gladly interrupted by Nines placing a hand on Gavin’s knee which startled him so much that if he hadn’t been wearing his seatbelt he was sure he would’ve jumped right into the air. “Gav, honey, chill - I don’t mind helping you clean up some stuff, it’s only 4:54 pm. We still have plenty of time for dinner and a movie afterward.”

This did not seem to calm Gavin down but he knew there was no escaping now - he had run out of excuses. “Okay, yeah - you’re right.” He breathed heavily, his fingers twitching at the steering wheel - man he needed a smoke. “Hey, uh, would you mind waiting for a bit - I’m just gonna pop out for a quick smoke, won’t be longer than 5 minutes.” Gavin scanned over Nines' face just as he went to open his mouth - but Gavin was fast to interrupt. “Look, I know it’ll kill me yada yada - I haven’t had one since last night and it’s just been a tough day, okay?” Nines shut his mouth tight - just simply nodding as a small smile came over his face. “Don’t be long, Gavin.” Gavin unfastened his seatbelt as Nines spoke - leaning over to grab his cigarettes and lighter from the glove compartment on Nines’ side of the car. As he got out he leaned on the door, peering into the car. “I won’t, tin can.”

DETECTIVE GAVIN REED’S APARTMENT  
DOWNTOWN DETROIT  
NOVEMBER 30TH, 2039  
8:07 PM

It hadn’t taken long for the couple to make it back to Gavin’s apartment, approximately 20 minutes according to Nines. Gavin had been right though, the place was a mess. Asshole had been lounging on the couch when the pair arrived and was refusing to move so they were forced to clean around her. After what felt like an eternity cleaning, Gavin got changed into his usual sleepwear - some sort of sleeveless hoodie and a pair of boxer shorts - before crashing on the couch beside his cat. Nines was in the kitchen making Gavin dinner - he always felt bad that Nines would make him food and yet be unable to eat himself, but Nines never complained. A bottle of thirium was noticeably on the counter when Gavin peeled himself away from the tv to see how Nines was getting on. “I didn’t know you could drink thirium straight.” He took a seat on one of the stools that lined the counter, watching Nines as he cooked. “I’m not, but I could. I was just about to make a cocktail with it but since you’re here why don’t you be useful.” Gavin furrowed his brows, pretending to be mad at the android. “Ordered around in my own house, got no respect Terminator.” Never-the-less, Gavin dropped off the stool and made his way round to join Nines on the other side of the counter. “You do know how to make it, right?” He heard Nines’ condescending voice behind him as he cracked open the bottle of thirium. “Ha, ha you’re so funny - yes I know how to make it.” Gavin began making the drink as Nines finished up with the dinner. It wasn’t much - a pizza that Nines must’ve found somewhere in Gavin’s freezer. As Gavin finished making Nines drink, as well as pouring himself a glass of water - they both headed back to the couch where Asshole still hadn’t moved from.

“Lazy cat doesn’t do anything all day but sleep on the phcking couch.” Nines laughed softly to himself, reaching for his glass that Gavin had placed on the coffee table. “Sounds like you on your days off.” Gavin shot Nines a devil glare, cut short by a roll of his eyes as his face turned into a frown. “And they say I’m an asshole.” He folded his arms, the opening credits of “iRobot” playing on the tv in the background as the two continued to bicker - Asshole, the cat now fully lounging on Nines’ lap. “Oh you are, I certainly don’t learn it from Tina or Chris.” Nines pet Asshole with one hand whilst holding his drink in the other, his LED spinning a light blue. Gavin smirked, grabbing a slice of his pizza as he shuffled closer to Nines’ side so they were now shoulder to shoulder, “You win this time, tin can.” Gavin was so distracted by his evening with Nines that he had almost completely forgotten about being mad at him and the whole Zen Garden incident. It wasn’t until later when Nines made a joke about going into stasis that Gavin remembered why he had been so terrified for Nines to stay over again.

“I think, I’m gonna head to bed just now.”

“What, really? Gav, it’s only 11:27 pm and we have the day off tomorrow… Are you feeling okay?” Gavin tried to keep his composure, turning away from Nines so he couldn’t see his face - not like that would prevent Nines from doing a full-body scan anyways, God he hated it when he did that. “I’m fine, tin can, really. It’s just been a long day. You don’t have to come to sleep just now if you don’t want to though, just… join me when you’re ready.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Gavin.”

“Night…”


	3. December 10th, 2039

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin is back in the Zen Garden - but something is different. Its been 3 weeks since he started visiting the place and he's trying his best to avoid his counterpart. His future with Nines remains uncertain, but alas he puts on a brave face.
> 
> The gang is also celebrating Tina's promotion but Gavin just can't stop himself from thinking of Zenvin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh look I ACTUALLY FINISHED WRITING THIS CHAPTER! when i tell you this chapter has been sat in my google docs half-finished for like 2 months IM NOT JOKING!
> 
> props to michelle for actually getting me to finish this because without that little pressure and like half the stream bookmarking this fic i definitely would've just forgot about it whoops.
> 
> i also kinda wanted to scrap like half of this once i reread it like 2 days ago but i just could not be bothered with trying to rewrite like 4k words
> 
> anyways enjoy!

NINES’ ZEN GARDEN  
GAVIN’S MIND  
DECEMBER 10TH, 2039  
4:06 AM

His eyes shot wide open and he knew exactly where he was. The same place he always ended up on nights like these, with Nines curled up beside him - his hand resting softly against Gavin’s face. It was just the same old garden he had been visiting for the last couple of weeks, although something was different. Gavin’s eyes wandered from the bench he was sat on to a small cottage, no bigger than the house he lived in as a kid with Fowler. Last time he had been in the Zen Garden - what, a week ago or so? - there had been no cottage. Strange, since Gavin didn’t remember having the ability to conjure cottages from thin air - although he also used to think he didn’t have the ability to be inside an android brain, sort of. He knew his perfect counterpart was roaming somewhere in the garden, not sure of it’s - his - exact location. Gavin had done a pretty good job avoiding “Zen Gavin” last time he had been thrust into Nines’ brain. He hadn’t seen him since that first encounter almost 2 weeks ago and he planned on keeping it that way. He would have to bring it up to Nines’ eventually - he couldn’t go on and on avoiding the subject and dreading the days Nines spent the night.

He wanted to love those nights he really did - but it was hard when he knew the second he closed his eyes he would be transported here - to this garden. Where for what felt like hours and hours he would just roam about, avoiding the other occupant as much as possible. But Zenvin had been right that first visit - Nines’ Zen Garden was still mainly unstable. Gavin could only go down a path so far before a red wall appeared and behind it was… nothing. In moments like that he wished Nines’ would hurry up and finish rebuilding the garden so he had more space to escape to, but of course - he couldn’t just tell him that without acknowledging the fact he was basically inside Nines’ mind. Nothing new had been built into the garden since that first visit but this cottage - it was brand new, so new Gavin thought he could clearly smell paint fumes coming off the walls. He stood up from the bench, the place he always seemed to appear for some reason and began walking to the cottage - keeping an eye out for a specific someone.

“Reed Residence...” Gavin read off the sign on the front door once he reached it. It occurred to him that perhaps as Nines’ rebuilt the Zen Garden in his mind, it transferred over to the Zen Garden in Gavin’s - whack. He smiled slightly at the sign - Nines’ had built this cottage for him - but not really. Gavin knew Nines’ hadn’t rebuilt his Gavin replacement - so why the cottage? Why the name “Reed” on the door when the only person who would visit there would be…. Nines. Gavin twisted the door handle, testing whether it was locked - it wasn’t. The door creaked as he opened it, dust had accumulated on the handle and door frame as if no one had been home for a while - strange. “Hello?” Gavin called out into the darkness. Even with the sun beaming outside the inside was still dark and gloomy, terrifying almost. “Anybody home?” A stupid question really - he knew there wasn’t.

To his right was a living room - the curtains closed, which would explain the darkness. The place looked abandoned, sheets were thrown over furniture and cobwebs hanging from the ceiling. It seemed very out of place in the Zen Garden, for starters - there was nothing “perfect” about it. Everything else about the garden had been perfect, but not this place. Something was very odd about it, anyone could tell you that. He heard humming coming from upstairs, it was quite quiet compared to the loud wind outside but Gavin had learned over the years to heighten his senses. He made his way to a spiral staircase in the center of the bottom floor. It was made of steel, from what he could tell, a soft blue hue lifted off it as Gavin slid a finger along the banister. Yet more dust. He had a feeling he knew who it was upstairs, the only other person in this garden. But he’d only visited the garden twice before, and this cottage was new. Maybe something else was too.

“Hello?” He called out again, more confident in his voice this time as he made his way up the stairs, spiraling and spiraling. “Who’s there?” He said as he reached the landing, the floorboard creaking beneath him - as if the house was old. As he scanned his eyes across the second floor, taking into account each of the rooms available, he began to realize that the inside of the cottage did not match the outside. As if someone had managed to paint all the bricked walls, but had left the inside of the house untouched - as if they’d been interrupted. He found the source of the humming and made his way to what seemed to be the bathroom. It was now he heard water running and bristles rubbing against one another. He took a deep breath before opening the door quickly, not surprised at all to find his perfect self with a mouth full of toothpaste and a towel around his neck. “Un-phcking-believable.” He slammed the door shut, making a point to his other half that he was pissed - although, anybody could’ve told you that.

He didn’t know what he was expecting - of course, it had been him, who else was there for it to be? A part of Gavin slightly hoped it had been Nines, that he had managed to get into Gavin’s mind and he would tell him everything and - permanently - get rid of the other him. But of course, that would be too easy. No, his other half just happened to be living in the cottage that Gavin assumed Nines had built in his new Zen Garden - a cottage that he had named after Gavin himself. It was as if… No, surely not? Gavin shook his head as he began to run down the staircase, the dust lifting due to the sudden gush of air. Nines wouldn’t have. He wouldn’t have built a cottage in his Zen Garden where he and his newly rebuilt “Zen Gavin” could live in peace. No, he wouldn’t have. But then again, maybe he had? And he had the nerve to call it “Reed Residence” - as if the shitty apartment Gavin had in Detroit wasn’t enough for Nines - Cyberlife’s most advanced android.

“Gavin, wait!” He heard the voice behind him following him down the stairs and out the front door. As he made his way back to the bench, hoping that he had wasted just enough time for it to be morning again, a hand touched his shoulder yanking him back to face himself, literally. “What!? What the phck do you want?” Gavin went to grab the man’s shirt but instead made contact with the towel, ripping it off his shoulders and throwing it to the ground. He was still wearing that stupid white shirt - it seemed to be the only thing he owned, or the one piece of clothing Nines built him with. “I haven’t seen you in a while, I wanted to know how you were doing.” Gavin huffed, his hands making their way into his sweatshirt pockets as he paced - the gravel crunching beneath his feet. “Do you not think there’s a reason for that, huh? That maybe I couldn’t stand to see you every single PHCKING WEEK?!” Tears had begun welling at Gavin’s eyes, he was so annoyed at this - this thing - that seemed to be coming in and trying to ruin his life.  
“Look, Gavin - I understand your frustration - really I do.” His face was dropped, mirroring Gavin’s posture - his arms across his chest instead of inside pockets. “NO! YOU DON’T! You come in here and you try to take my life - MY PARTNER - and you wanna know the worst part?! HE MADE YOU. HE CREATED YOU BECAUSE I WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH BECAUSE I’M NOT GOOD ENOUGH.” Gavin felt his hands and body begin to tremble and hoped his body back home was unaffected - although he might be glad to be shaken awake by Nines right now. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Gavin was shocked out of his thoughts, the yell echoing through the Zen Garden. “What did you think I was doing for 3 months, Gavin? Just twiddling my phcking thumbs? I WAS THERE FOR HIM WHEN YOU WERE NOT.” The tears on his face had dried slightly but Gavin felt more daring to flow from his lids - though he desperately tried to keep them at bay. “You ignored him for months, Gavin! So yeah, he built me - he built you! Because the real you couldn’t give a shit about Nines - that’s the truth!” Gavin wanted to wake up. This wasn’t what he had expected - the truth behind his words stung Gavin deeply, the tears now streaming down his cheeks.

“I TRIED! Okay… I tried.” He wiped his eyes, the other man in too much of a rage to even notice the man had been crying. “You have no IDEA what it feels like to have all these emotions, all these thoughts. PHCK I loved him so much okay! I loved him, I love him - but I was too much of a coward to do anything about it.” He had hoped the guy would take the hint that Gavin was no longer in the mood to argue, that he just wanted to go home - back to Nines. He didn’t take the hint though. “NO IDEA? How do you think Nines was feeling, huh? HE WAS A MACHINE FALLING IN LOVE FOR THE FIRST TIME - IT WAS DEFINITELY MORE CONFUSING FOR HIM THAN YOU GAV.” The blood vessels on the young man’s neck had begun to bulge out, his anger increasing. The nickname didn’t go unnoticed by Gavin, although he definitely had bigger things on his mind - such as a very angry piece of programming. He felt his eyelids drooping and he knew what that meant - he was waking up again. The other man was still yelling at him, but his words were echoing - no longer coherent. The other man had begun glitching, his voice beginning to sound like Nines had in that alleyway. It was terrifying to watch himself be glitched out of existence, although he had probably lived through it once before when Nines deleted him the first time.

“Gavin, are you okay?”

Everything started to collapse, he felt his body slowly falling to the ground - this was new.

“Gavin, pleeaaaaassssseee.”

Nines’ words had started to slur, becoming longer and longer as Gavin tried to prevent himself from collapsing on the hard gravel and for a second he forgot his body was actually at home, safe in bed.

BURN’S ALLEY  
DOWNTOWN DETROIT  
DECEMBER 14TH, 2039  
8:07 PM

“Guess I’m now the DPD’s most huggable detective, huh?”  
“Oh please babe, you’re also the hottest!”

A groan escaped Gavin’s throat, playful in all its glory. “Please, for the love of all things holy - get a phcking room.” Gavin’s hand was wrapped around a tall glass of water, occasionally lifting it to his lips to take sips between conversation. “You’re one to talk, Gav. You were practically all over Nines when I came to drop off T’s lunch today.” A blush rose to Gavin’s cheeks, his sudden embarrassment causing him to take a larger sip of his water. He looked over at Nines who was sitting waiting at the bar getting another drink along with Chris. “Was not! Have it be known I was asking him a question about the case we are working on.” Gavin heard a snigger and his eyes darted over to Tina who was sitting beside him - one arm around Valerie’s waist and another leaning on the table. “Something funny, Chen?” Tina’s eyes peeked up from behind her hand - her sniggering slowly coming to a stop. “Oh no, just didn’t realize that talking about a case involved so much TOUCH-” She was cut off before she could finish by an elbow to the side. Gavin had noticed Nines and Chris beginning to make their way back to the table and he would be damned if he let Nines hear they were talking about him. It was at this moment that Gavin forgot Nines was an android - and his hearing sensors were impeccable.

“Not having too much fun without us, I hope.” Nines set his thirium cocktail on the table as he slid into the seat on the other side of Gavin - pressing a soft kiss to the man’s temple as he did. Gavin felt the blush return to his cheeks as Nines caressed his jaw, his skin retracting as he did so. “NO! I mean, no - we didn’t.” Chris had reached the table by this point, fully amused it seemed by Gavin’s sudden flustering. “Well well Gavin, I didn’t think they programmed you with blushing.” The table burst into a fit of giggles, even Nines was amused. “Yeah yeah, laugh it up Tin Can.” He slapped Nines’ hand away from his face, more so out of annoyance than rage. “Come on Gav, lighten up a bit.” The detective scowled at his partner, arms crossed in pretend anger - which always seemed to work on Nines. “I swear all you guys do is pick on me, some friends you are.” This just set the group off again, causing Gavin to get angrier. “Man you’re so cute when you're mad.” Tina pinched his cheek, leaving a slightly red mark that was quickly rubbed away by Gavin. “You guys are bullies.” The group burst out laughing once more, unable to take Gavin seriously when he looked like a kid who had their toy taken off them.

“We’re just messing with ya Gav, lighten up a little.” Gavin turned his nose up at Valerie’s comment, clearly still annoyed by his friend's previous comment about him and Nines. “Gav’s just had a bad day, Val - don’t pay any attention to him.” She just laughed, having known Gavin for the past 10 years and also knowing how much of a brat he was. “If I let every one of Gavin’s comments get to me, I would’ve given up on him years ago.” Gavin’s head flipped up, in sync with his middle finger which just sent Valerie into a fit of giggles, along with the rest of the group. It was nice to see everyone laughing and smiling after such a hard week. The case they had been given was a rough one and had taken a toll on every one of them. Valerie had suggested they go out that night - she had clearly seen the stress Tina had been going through. And she was right, it was nice. Almost as if they had forgotten about work, about life. Only this moment existed - nothing before or after. “So Nines, has Gavin been giving you any grief?” Gavin continued playing with his drink, swirling the water round and round as the group talked. “What is this, bully Gavin day?” Tina nudged his side, clearly noticing the lack of sarcasm in his words. “Hey, every day is bully Gavin day. You okay?” She whispered the last part, he knew it was for him only. “Yeah, I’m okay.” But the truth was that he wasn’t. He was still having the “nightmares” as he liked to call them, though they were definitely worse than the nightmares he had been having ever since that night he met Fowler. It had been a couple of days since his argument with Zenvin and he just couldn’t get it out of his head.

This stupid piece of programming had so much control of him, over his life. He had tried to forget about it he really did but Gavin just couldn’t forget the image in the back of his mind of the cheesing idiot - this perfect idiot. Was that who Nines saw when he looked at Gavin? Or who he wishes was in his place? Sometimes Gavin wished that too - that his perfect self was who he truly was in the real world. He knew it wasn’t and would never be but he could dream, couldn’t he? He had been visiting the Zen Garden for 3 weeks - the time between visits differing depending on when Nines spent the night. He was still no closer to discovering why he was visiting such a place. Gavin had never been one to lucid dream, heck dream at all. This felt all too real to be a dream, and the active link with Nines’ own Zen Garden weighed heavily on Gavin’s mind. He had done his best to play happy families with Nines but he didn’t know how long he could keep up the act. Chris hadn’t asked him anything else on the matter since their talk a couple of weeks previous, which Gavin was thankful for. He loved the man, but sometimes Chris could be so oblivious to what others were thinking and feeling - hence his shock at Gavin and Nines' relationship. Gavin had hoped he hadn’t mentioned anything to Tina either, although he hadn’t heard anything from her in the past week or so about it so perhaps Chris had stuck to his word.

He would tell her when he was ready - he just wasn’t yet. She was his best friend but it felt right to tell Chris first - God knows he would’ve been mad about being left out of the loop again. “I’m still mad you didn’t tell me about you and Nines.” He had pulled Gavin aside before they made their way to the warehouse that night. Complaining about how even Tina knew, yada yada. “Look, Chris - there was no me and Nines until like two days ago. He spent the night at my place and we kinda fell asleep together.” Gavin was embarrassed to say the words aloud - God knows had it been anyone else he wouldn’t have dared say anything but this was Chris - he was Nines’ best friend and Gavin knew that if he didn’t tell him about it then Nines probably would. “I’m happy for you though dude, honestly I thought you two were gonna bite each other’s heads off - not that you were flirting.” Gavin had grabbed Chris at this moment, yanking him back by the arm. “Hey! I don’t flirt.” Chris had just laughed at that, making that stupid face that annoyed the phck out of Gavin.

“Hey, Tin Can to Meat Sack. You okay there?” Gavin shook himself out of his own thoughts, landing back in his chair at Burn’s Alley. “Huh? Yeah, Nines I’m fine, just tired.” Nines sent him a smile, it was small but Gavin caught the brief tilt of his lips. He returned the smile, taking his hand to Nines', which was rested on his knee. Nines squeezed Gavin’s hand, his skin retracting as Gavin rubbed his thumb over his knuckles. “Hey, let’s head home.” Gavin smiled and nodded - Nines could tell he was beginning to feel uncomfortable as more people piled into the bar. They stood up simultaneously, Gavin swallowing the last of his water in one swift gulp. “You guys going already?” Tina’s ears had perked up at the sound of the chair scraping along the floor, clearly looking at Gavin’s empty glass and Nines’ untouched cocktail. “Yeah, T. Feeling a bit tired and you know, crowds.” Tina looked around as if only just realizing how busy the bar had gotten, too engrossed in her conversation with Valerie. She just nodded, sending a small smile the boys' way. “Call me when you get home?” She got up to give him a hug and a part of him wondered if she knew about his dreams. “Always, T.” He pulled away from the hug and gave her a quick peck of the cheek. “Night guys.” Turning back around to face Nines, a small smile escaped the side of his mouth. “Ready?” Gavin looked down at Nines’ empty hand, his skin retracting as Gavin laced their fingers together. “Now I am.”


	4. December 25th, 2039

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Tina's promotion party things begin to get better for Gavin and Nines. Gavin learns Zenvin has some tricks up his sleeve and Chris finally learns the truth, sort of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY IM BACK LOOK AT ME! 
> 
> ngl this chapter has actually been sat in my drafts fully written for about a month but i've been so busy i haven't had time to post it lol. i thought maybe it was too short since i really prefer long chapters but i am gonna try and wrap this story up pretty quickly so i can start writing some more! this chapter was gonna have more to it but i really like that cliffhanger so HERE IS WHAT YOU GET!
> 
> michelle i am so deeply sorry this took me like 2 more months to post I PROMISE I WILL FINISH IT haha

NINES’ ZEN GARDEN  
GAVIN’S MIND  
DECEMBER 25TH, 2039  
3:04 AM

He hadn’t even had the chance to open his eyes yet when the voice came piercing through. “Well, well - Merry Christmas.” He closed his eyes again, squeezing them tightly and hoping that by the time he opened them the asshole would be gone. Opening one eye slowly he was in no such luck. “Seriously? Can’t I have 10 minutes of peace before you start jumping down my phcking throat?” Gavin brushed his hands over his boxers, smoothing out the crinkles. “I’m not jumping down your throat at all.” Gavin laughed at that, pushing himself up off the bench so he was face to face with Zenvin. “Oh really? It’s all you’ve ever done since I started visiting here. Plus if I recall correctly you were the one who was yelling at me 2 weeks ago.” Zenvin lifted his hand, brushing his fingers through his curly hair. “Yeah well, I’m sorry for that. I know it’s not your fault. Maybe if I had been more harsh on Nines, things could’ve been resolved faster.” Gavin sighed, shoving his hands once more into his sweatshirt pockets. “What do you mean “been more harsh”? You weren’t mean to him were you?” Zenvin chuckled at that and Gavin realised it was the first time he had seen the piece of programming laugh since he started visiting. “No Gavin. But I did tell him to get his act together and just phcking tell you about his feelings.”

Gavin took a step back, eyeing Zenvin up and down before replying. “Even his own consciousness couldn’t persuade the idiot.” They laughed together, their voices mixing as silence fell over the rest of the garden. “Yeah well, you know how stubborn he is.” Gavin smiled, images of Nines flashing in his mind. “Yes, I do.” They began to walk beside each other along the path, the first time they had done so since that first visit. Nines had almost finished rebuilding his Zen Garden and the cottage was completely decorated - filled with photos of the two of them that Gavin had taken with his old camera back in the real world. There was so much more and Gavin was just glad he could finally walk everywhere without being stopped by the stupid red wall he so hated. “So, um, how are things with you two anyway?” Zenvin continued walking long after Gavin had stopped, not noticing his counterpart missing from his side. “Gavin?” His hands were in his pockets and he was rocking back and forth on his feet. “You okay?” He looked up, eyes redder than they had been only a moment ago. “Not really. I mean - it’s Nines.” He fiddled with a loose thread in his pocket, anything to keep his hands busy - keep his mind busy. “I thought things were getting better? I mean you seemed fine at Tina’s promotion party? Why the sudden change?” Gavin’s eyes widened at that. He hadn’t told Zenvin about that night at Burn’s Alley, heck he hadn’t spoken about that night to anyone. “How do you know about Burn’s Alley?”

Zenvin panicked, a slight rise in his voice as he spoke. “Oh, um, you must’ve mentioned something last time you were here.” Gavin glared at him, his eyes following the man as he too had begun to fiddle with a loose thread - this time on his t-shirt. “I haven’t been here since that night 2 weeks ago and you know this. I haven’t spoken to anyone about that night. So how do you know Zenvin?” He stopped at that, his eyebrow raising slightly on one side as he began facing away from Gavin once more. “Zenvin? I mean I know that’s what you call me in your head but you’ve never called me it to my fa-” Gavin reached out and yanked the man’s shirt, pulling him backward. “In my head? Have you been eavesdropping in my mind man?” Gavin never was a good liar, and he could definitely recognize his tells on Zenvin’s face before he even opened his mouth. “Save the excuse, I know what my lying face looks like okay? Just tell me how.” The other man shook his head, confused, and still slightly disoriented after being whipped around. “How what? How are you here? I already told you, Gavin. I don’t kno-” Gavin cut him off, resting a hand on his shoulder. “No, stupid. How are you able to see inside my head?” Zenvin’s eyes widened, his fingers leaving the thread alone and now fiddling with each other in front of his stomach. “Oh, well you see. Because I kinda am you - your thoughts are my thoughts. I see what you see.” Gavin’s eyes squinted, not fully understanding. “Wait, you see everything?” Zenvin rolled his eyes, arms crossing over his chest. “Not everything. Bits and pieces. I don’t know why but it’s like we’re connected somehow - some way. I saw you and Nines at Tina’s promotion party, you were happy Gavin I could feel it. Why the sudden change?”

A bench appeared behind them, Gavin didn’t remember walking to it but I guess this was his mind - he could do anything, right? “Well it’s just… he’s starting to suspect something is up. I told him to stop scanning me and he has, he totally has, but sometimes I see his eyes linger on me for longer than they need too and I tense up.” Zenvin sat down beside Gavin on the bench, his legs spread slightly apart as he rested his elbows on his knees. “You know that people who are in love do that, right? He’s not looking at you because he suspects something - he just likes looking at you, Gav.” He chuckled slightly, fingers twitching every now and then reminding himself that he wasn’t here - not really. “Phck off, of course I know that.” Zenvin smiled slightly, mouth raising at one side. “But you’re not wrong. He will start to suspect soon and you need to be ready for that when the time comes. I can feel you pushing him away and trust me it took me so long to convince him to let you in - I don’t have the strength or even the ability to do it again.” A drop hit the ground, the men looked into each other’s eyes - both filled with tears. “Help me Zenvin, please. I don’t know what to do. What if I’m not good enough for him?” Zenvin reached out for Gavin’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. “You’re his world. You are good enough. I know that he knows that - deep down inside you have to know that too.” Gavin closed his eyes, allowing the tears to fall - whilst also simultaneously waking himself up.

DETROIT POLICE DEPARTMENT  
DOWNTOWN DETROIT  
JANUARY 8TH, 2040  
2:34 PM

“You sure you’re okay man?” Gavin’s eyes looked up from his coffee to find Chris Miller, bent over and waving a hand in front of his face. “Hmm? Yeah, just haven’t slept much.” Chris sighed and sat against Gavin’s desk, facing him. “I thought you said the nightmares had stopped? Or are you still getting weekly visits from our unknown friend?” Gavin couldn’t look Chris in the eyes, not now. When Chris had asked him who had been in that garden he had panicked and said he didn’t recognize them. He didn’t think it would work. Surely even Chris knew you couldn’t see faces in your dreams that you’ve never seen in real life? Then again, the Zen Garden wasn’t a dream - not really. “Am I overthinking it? This whole mysterious stranger thing?” He was playing into Chris’ thoughts, there was no way in hell he was telling him the truth - he would think Gavin was crazy. Or narcissistic. Or both. “Dude they’re just dreams, nightmares, whatever. What do you guys even talk about? I mean, not to be nosey because it is your dream but what can you talk about with someone you don’t really know?” Gavin sighed, spinning the spoon around his coffee mug to keep his hands busy. “Too much.” Chris raised an eyebrow, smacking Gavin playfully on the shoulder. “Like what? Come on, give me all the juicy gossip Gav.” He smiled then, even if his friends had no idea what was going on inside his head he could still enjoy cracking jokes with them. “The guy I see inside my head is a perfect version of me made by Nines before the Ada case.” Gavin’s eyes widened and he purged forward in his chair. He had not said those words, had no control over them coming out of his mouth. But they had, and it was too late to take them back now.

“WHAT?” Chris had almost fallen off the desk, arms grasping at the ledge to steady himself. “Hold on, back up a second. A what now?” Gavin wanted to hit his head against the desk, disappear from existence, or at least this current situation. “You’re welcome.” echoed in the back of his head. Zenvin. He knew this guy could eavesdrop every now and then but control his words?! - that was a new one. “You want the long story or the short one?” Gavin rubbed his hands over his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, still not making eye contact with Miller. “And before you answer, I’m not crazy,” Chris smirked, eyes still full of fear but beginning to relax - slightly. “I never said you were. And short one please I really wanna see what you do with that.” Gavin punched him in the leg which happened to be level with Gavin’s arm from where he was sitting. “Lets just say that things haven’t exactly been going to plan.” Chris laughed, a small chuckle at most but it broke the tension slightly. “Okay so. Remember back in November I told you I had been somehow visiting Nines’ Zen Garden whilst I slept and I had no idea why or how?” Chris was leaning more against the desk now, clearly intrigued by Gavin’s story. “Yeah…” Gavin squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath before opening them again. “Well that mysterious man wasn’t very mysterious at all, I just didn’t want you thinking I was crazy.” A chuckle escaped Chris’ lips once more, filling the air between the two men. “Gav, tell me something I don’t know. You think I’m friends with you for the fun of it? No, no I love crazy.” A pain swelled from his leg as Gavin punched him once again. “Keep talking Miller and it’s gonna be more than a sore leg you’ll have.” He bent down grabbing his leg, it was pulsing slightly in pain. “Okay fine you win, continue.” Gavin leaned back in his chair, the wheels beneath him spinning him around slightly. “He looks just like me Chris. Same eyes, same hair - similar clothes. Only difference is he’s missing these.” Gavin pointed to the bags under his eyes and the scar across his nose.

“That’s what you meant by perfect, right?” Gavin nodded, his eyes still failing to meet Chris. “Yeah, well no. That wasn’t me, I didn’t say that.” Despite not being able to see Chris’ face, Gavin knew he was stumped, confused. “Gavin I’ve been sitting right here - those words came out your mouth.” Gavin pushed himself up by the arms of his chair, grabbing his coffee and pacing the floor behind his desk. “Yes, but it wasn’t me. It was him.” Chris’ eyes followed Gavin’s pacing, making him dizzy. He stopped right before he began to dissociate and shook his head clean. “Him? Him wh-” His eyes widened in realization, standing up off the desk to be level with Gavin - grabbing his arm and stopping him mid-pace. “You mean to tell me he can speak, like through you?” Arms folded across his chest, Gavin closed his eyes. “Yeah, I only realized today. Here um, Zenvin you wanna say something?” Chris bent his head to the side, like a puppy. “Zenvin?” Gavin opened one eye and began whispering for a reason he did not know. “Zen Garden Gavin. Zen Gavin. Zenvin. Look I had to think of something to call him, it felt weird calling him my name.” Chris nodded frantically, clearly freaked out by the whole situation though not nearly as freaked out as Gavin when words started leaving his mouth without him even saying them. “Hey Chris, wanna tell Gavin he’s making a mistake letting me have control over his body like this?” It was then the screaming started. This was Gavin, one of his best friends - his partner on so many cases before the revolution. And yet it wasn’t him. He looked like Gavin, he sounded like Gavin, but this was not Gavin - and I think both of them knew it.


End file.
